Penticton

67 days for 'very high' driver

A woman was handed a 67-day jail sentence in Penticton court on Wednesday for charges related to hitting another woman with her car in Oliver last week.

Angelene Solien, 22, pleaded guilty on Monday to assault with a weapon, possession of stolen property under $5,000 and failure to stop at an accident.

On Wednesday, Solien appeared in court via video and pleaded guilty to an additional charge of breach of probation, which she was serving from a separate incident last year.

On Jan. 26, RCMP in Oliver responded to an injured pedestrian report on Lakeshore Drive, and later found out a woman had been struck by Solien's vehicle after a disagreement.

Solien was later arrested by RCMP in Princeton after crashing the vehicle, which police said had been stolen from Oliver the previous day.

In her sentencing, Judge Michelle Daneliuk said Solien's offences were a result of using drugs.

Daneliuk pointed out that Solien's boyfriend said she was "very high" on methamphetamine when she crashed the vehicle late at night, and that she had been using the drug regularly for a month.

Solien was allegedly heading to Vancouver and planning to live transiently in a tent city. She only had her learner's license as well.

Daneliuk also said that Solien could have gone into drug treatment with her mother's help — who was present in the courtroom on Wednesday — but she refused.

"It is in part a social problem, and in part a medical problem, and unfortunately the courts are not very well equipped to deal with those aspects... And we're left dealing with the fallout of that, which is the criminal conduct that inevitably occurs."

Daneliuk noted that the situation was "extremely dangerous" for Solien and other members of the public.

“Frankly, it’s just extremely fortunate that she didn’t injure herself or someone else as a result of this driving.”

For account of time already served, Solien will spend the next 58 days in prison followed by her 12-month probation.